UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee was more than confident of getting more votes than expected in the presidential polls just after the voting ended Thursday, even stating he would get "many more" votes this time.
"Earlier, I used to get two votes - one was my vote and another my wife's vote. But here I hope to get many more votes," a smiling Mukherjee said here. He had, as Lok Sabha member, cast his ballot in the presidential election in Parliament House earlier in the day.
Earlier, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy said that Mukherjee will win by more than two-thirds majority. "He will get a minimum 7,20,000 votes," he said.
United Progressive Alliance leaders and Mukherjee's poll managers are confident that their candidate will get more votes than expected, with some opposition MPs and legislators cross-voting.
In fact, a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Gujarat, Kanubhai Valabhai Kalsaria, had reportedly voted for Mukherjee against the party line. The BJP is supporting former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma.